than 115,000 signatures by itself to, quote, peacefully grant the state of texas to withdraw from the united states of america and create its own new government. as "the washington post" dana milbank put it in a recent column, if obama were serious about being a good steward of the nation's finances, he would let them go. did you hear that? because many of those states are what dana milbank said are government takers, they take more in federal money than they pay in taxes. alabama gets $1.71 from the federal government for every $1 paid in taxes. louisiana gets $1.45 in federal aid for every $1 they pay in taxes. author of "bush's brain," and james braxton peterson associate professor of english at lehigh, and michael steele, former chair of the rnc and a political analyst here at msnbc. gentlemen, this is an extraordinary thing but let's talk about this, professor peterson, recent "daily beast" article you talked about using maps in 1859 to america today where states are petitioning to secede following obama's election. you write they were pro-slavery or open to slavery. this same collectiv